An old video showing Israeli ambassador to the United Nations escaping during an attack by Hamas in Gaza has surfaced with a false claim that an Israeli minister escaped from Iran's missile attack.
In the viral video, two people can be seen talking to the media, who suddenly start running away when a voice is heard from behind. However, BOOM found that the viral video is from October 2023 when a fact-finding group of ambassadors had visited Sderot, a city located near the Gaza border.
Since June 13, Israel—backed by the United States—and Iran have been engaged in ongoing military strikes against each other. On June 24, U.S. President Donald Trump called on both Israel and Iran to enforce a ceasefire following an intense 11- day military conflict between the two nations.
The Claim
Sharing the video on X, a user wrote, “An Israeli Knesset member ran off mid-interview as Iranian missiles began to rain down. The camera kept rolling — so did the fear.”
See the archived Facebook post here.
What We Found
1. The viral video is from 2023
BOOM ran a reverse image search using key frames from the viral video and found a longer version of the video posted on X in June 2024. A second reverse image search led us to a news report dated October 16, 2023, linking the footage to the Hamas-Israel conflict.
2. The video shows members involved in a fact-finding mission
According to a CBN News report, former Israeli ambassador to the UN and then Knesset member Danny Danon visited the Israeli border town of Sderot near Gaza on October 15, 2023, along with a delegation of foreign ambassadors as part of a fact-finding mission, which also included a CBN News team. Danon, who has since been reappointed as Israel's ambassador, was seen in the viral video warning the group and pointing out to a nearby shelter as a siren went off.
According to the Times of Israel, Sderot’s deputy mayor Elad Kalimi was also part of the group and appears in the video. Just 60 seconds after the siren, a Hamas rocket struck the area and everyone ran to a nearby shelter.